I'd like to give my boyfriend a coding-related birthday gift, and I'm happy to pay an entry fee or subscription. He has participated in university coding challenges before and has also used Hack The Box and TryHackMe, so something involving programming puzzles, cybersecurity labs, or capture-the-flag challenges could be ideal. I'm not familiar with these platforms myself, so I'd appreciate recommendations for a good challenge, competition, or subscription. Are capture-the-flag events generally similar, or do they vary a lot? Also, can subscriptions for platforms like Hack The Box or TryHackMe be purchased as gifts or transferred to someone else's account?
3 Answers
For a subscription, it’s usually best to purchase a gift option or voucher if the service provides one rather than creating an account and hoping it can be transferred later. Account transfers may not be supported, and the subscription could become tied to the purchaser’s email. Checking the platform’s current gift and billing policy before buying would avoid that problem.
A paid subscription to Hack The Box or TryHackMe would probably be a safe choice since he already enjoys both. Their paid plans unlock additional labs and challenges. PentesterLab and Root Me are also good alternatives if you want to introduce him to something new. For a more event-based gift, look for an online capture-the-flag competition, but try to match the difficulty to his current experience.
There are several good programming challenge options, depending on what he likes: Advent of Code, Everybody Codes, Protohackers, Kattis, and AtCoder all offer different styles of problems. Advent of Code has a particularly fun puzzle format, while Kattis and AtCoder are more focused on competitive programming. Some are free, so you could pair one with another small gift.
Good point—I’ll check whether either platform offers gift subscriptions or vouchers instead of setting up an account in my own name.